Silent as the Grave
by Artificial Refuge
Summary: My first fanficiton on The Raging Quiet by Sherryl Jordan. Please review? And a note-might not be your idea of a happily-ever-after ending. But that doesn't mean it's not good, right?
1. Walking on Water

My first chapter of my first fanfiction so please review!

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Winter sunlight flickered over Marnie's hair as she tried to run, laughing, in the thick snow. Raven, ahead of her, turned and grinned. _You'll never catch me! _he said joyously, using his hands to talk.

Marnie said nothing, but pushed her way more forcefully through the snow. Raven tried to run, but she caught him and pushed him over, then ungracefully sat on his stomach.

_I win!_ she said triumphantly, panting from the hard run and watching Raven struggle to breathe. He stuck his tongue out at her, then motioned to the river.

_Come and see,_ he told Marnie. _The water is all frozen. You can walk on it-I used to do it in Torcurra._

She clambered off him, and they walked together to the frozen river.

_You can't walk on this one,_ Marnie told Raven. _The ice is too thin._ As he ignored her and began to walk towards the icy river, she poked him gently and added, _You'll fall in. _He grinned at her and kept going. 'Stubborn male,' she muttered, not bothering to use her hands, and reluctantly followed him.

Raven edged slowly onto the ice. It seemed to hold his weight…more confident now, he slid to the middle and stopped.

_Look!_ he signed to Marnie, trying to use his voice as well. _I told you-_ suddenly the ice cracked and gave way, and he plunged into the freezing water.

Marnie ploughed quickly towards the ice. She was almost there when Raven surfaced, gasping for air and looking very cold and rather sheepish. He swam to the bank as best he could with his numb limbs, and allowed Marnie to pull him out and bundle him into a thick cloak. She began to say something admonishing, but he put his hands on hers to stop her. She merely shook her head and walked him back to the wagon that was now their home, pushing him through the door firmly and shutting out the cold white fields.


	2. My Angel

Raven peeled off his sodden clothing and slipped between the heavy blankets that lay piled on the bed. Shivering, he accepted the hot drink given to him by Marnie, and allowed her to assist him by bringing the cup to his cold, blue lips.

When he had drunk it all, he smiled and told her, _I could do it at Torcurra._

She snorted. _Don't be silly. Only angels can walk on water._

Not recognising the new hand-word for angels, Raven looked quizzically at Marnie. _What?_

_Angels,_ Marnie said, using her hands and her voice. _People who aren't alive, but are good, who come and do good things.__ God knows them,_ she tried to explain. _They are like…like the big feelings in here,_ she said, putting her hands over her heart.

Nodding with sudden understanding, Raven repeated the sign for angel.

_You,_ he said. _You come and save me, and you make big feelings in my heart._

Marnie blushed and began to protest, but Raven stopped her by putting his fingers over her lips.

_You are an angel,_ he said, moving his hands slowly as if the words were special or somehow sacred. _Those people, in Torcurra, they think you are bad, but you are not. You are from God._ Silent tears of wonder and love began to slide down Marnie's cheeks, and Raven stopped talking to wipe them away and kiss her gently. _You are my angel,_ he said reverently, and pulled her with him as he lay back in the warmth.


	3. Capture

ok, here's chapter 3. This is where things get less nice and (hopefully!) more interesting, as in it might have the inkling of a story line. So read on!

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When Marnie woke the next morning, Raven had already left. This did not worry her-he still loved the wild, especially in winter when everything was hidden under a thick layer of snow. At Marnie's request, he rarely went out of sight of their wagon.

Marnie dressed warmly-today was especially cold-and began to tidy the wagon. A knock at the door made her pause. Thinking it could be Raven, she crossed the small room and flung the door open. As soon as there was enough room in the doorway a coarse sack was thrown over her head and her hands were thrust harshly behind her back and tied tightly together at the wrists. Marnie yelped, then screamed. A hand was clapped over her mouth, and when she stopped yelling to breathe a stinging slap came across her face, bringing tears to her eyes.

Confused and blind, Marnie struggled helplessly against her captor to no avail. As she writhed and kicked, she heard a yell come from across the clearing. "Raven!!" she screamed, forgetting his deafness in her confusion.

Her captor swung her over his shoulder, then sped up, moving rapidly. Soon she was thrown unceremoniously onto a hard, wooden surface. As Marnie struggled to breathe, she began to move again. The movement was that of a horse-drawn cart, and Marnie fought hard against the waves of nausea that swept over her. Breathing deeply, she tried again to cry out, but her voice would not obey her mind and she knew in her heart that it was no good anyway. She lay on her side, curled up against the pain in her ribs from being thrown onto the cart, her right cheek still smarting from the slap, and prayed silently.

All her fragile hope lay with Raven.


	4. Raven

Ok, here's chapter 4. And it's sort of the same as Chapter 3, but it's from Raven's point of view (for those who get confused :) ). And also, I'm really sorry about short chapters, but it looks so much longer on paper! Plus, it doesn't feel right sometimes to keep going on and on, but I get the point and I really will be making a concentrated effort to make it a bit longer. So, again, please review, and here we go.

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Raven woke with the sun. He looked at the beautiful young woman sleeping beside him and smiled, gently touching her face before sliding out from between the blankets and quietly dressing. He tiptoed to the door, slipped out and closed it with a soft click behind him. New, deep snow had fallen during the night, and it crunched beneath his light footsteps. He walked to the wood and drifted between the trees, glancing from time to time at the brightly painted wagon.

He was about to go further into the wood when he discerned a shadowy figure crossing the field from the direction of the road. Raven watched as the man knocked on the door of the wagon, holding some kind of material in his hands. He saw the door open and stepped out from the fringe of trees just as a sack was roughly forced over Marnie's head and her hands tied with rope behind her back.

Raven ran forward and felt, rather than heard, himself call out as a blow was dealt to Marnie. As he sprinted through the snow, she was hoisted over the man's shoulder and her captor began to run back to the road.

Raven, in pursuit, was hindered by the cold snow as he followed Marnie. He could not catch up, and he was a long distance behind when he saw Marnie being thrown on the back of a wooden, horse-drawn cart and her captor joining two other men at the front. Yelling, he ran even harder, pushing himself. Knowing he was no match for the horses, he still did not allow himself to slow down. He would run for hours, days, without stopping, without eating, drinking or sleeping. They would not hurt her. He would kill them first.


	5. Loneliness

Ok, this is where it gets really quite nasty. But I think it might be ok, so review. Please? And I don't think I put this for the other chapters but all characters and everything else belong to Sherryl Jordan, except the two nameless guy who are mine (aren't they just your favourite characters??? :) ) So thanks for all the reviews, bla bla bla, etc etc.   
Also, thoughts are in ' ' and hand speech is in _italics_. And just a quick note-I know that they're not actually speaking, but I did put some things like she whispered etc. So I do know about that, but it seemed to work.  
All right, I'll shut up and let you read.

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Marnie scrabbled desperately with her nails at the thick rope that bound her wrists. They had been going for at least an hour now, nearly two, and she was cramped and cold. Just as she thought she could stand it no longer on the miserable cart, it came to a jolting stop and she felt herself being lifted again. A tide of anger rose up inside her, and she lashed out with her feet. All this achieved only another harsh blow to her head, but at least she had the satisfaction of hearing a pained groan and muttered curses from her victim.

Presently she was dumped on the cold snow with her hands still tied behind her. The sack was pulled from her head, and she gulped at the frozen air whilst blinking against the painfully bright light. The stifling sack had frightened her more than she's realised. It was a few moments before she came to her senses and was able to study her surroundings.

She was in a wood of evergreen trees, the ground covered in snow that melted under her body and seeped through the back of her dress. Before her stood three men, one still clutching his stomach where, presumably, he had been kicked. Marnie did not know this man, or the one beside him, but the other…

The other was Pierce Isherwood.

His face was carefully expressionless, and his eyes were cold and blank. With apparently no feelings or emotions at all he looked at her, lying on the cold ground, and allowed his lips to curve. His eyes, though, his eyes stayed blank and showed no sign of humour. He motioned at his two men to go back to the cart, which they did in silence without even glancing at her pleading face.

"Well, Marnie," Pierce said conversationally, "we meet again. I must admit, it was more difficult to find you than I'd expected."

"Pierce-"

"Shut up," was Marnie's reply, and an expensive boot was driven painfully into her side.

"You shouldn't have done it, you know," continued Pierce casually, gazing at her with his dark eyes. "Burned down the cottage. It was mine! Mine!" He slammed his foot into her again, this time in her stomach. She curled up, retching and sobbing, trying to breathe through the haze of pain and wretchedness that surrounded her.

Suddenly calm again, Pierce watched her. "I thought they were ignorant, those villagers in Torcurra. But their ignorance was useful, a convenient way of me getting what I wanted. But they were right all along." Pierce bent close to her ear and whispered conspiratorially, "You are a witch."

Marnie went wild with anger and despair. "How dare you?! You ought to be locked up, you, you bastard! Get away from me!" She spat at him, writhing, pulling against her bonds, shivering with fury.

Calmly, he drew a knife and pressed the blade against her cheek. The cold metal stilled her, but her eyes blazed up at him, accusing him silently.

"Be very careful, widow," he said softly, dangerously, "else someone might just hurt you." Quickly he changed his grip on the handle and sliced deeply down her face, from her right eyebrow to her jaw. It was a deep cut, and blood rushed from it, tasting metallic in her mouth, but Marnie uttered not a sound. She stared up at him, hating him, loathing his entire being, knowing she was helpless.

And then he stood and looked at the slowly sinking sun. He looked at Marnie's body, at the blood sliding like crimson tears into the snow, and a look of malice crossed his face. Marnie saw it, saw his eyes roving over her slight frame, and knew what he would do. Real tears of fear mingled gently with the crimson ones. He slid his knife down her dress, material ripping, tearing like her heart. It was like those nights with Isaac again, only worse, because she'd known something different with Raven. She thought of Raven as Pierce crushed her, and screamed with grief and despair and loss.

Pierce stood, looking at the shivering woman in the trampled snow, and smiled.

"You'll die here, Marnie," he told her. "You'll die, because of the cold. And you'll be alone." He stooped, and cut the rope from her wrists. "I'll give you back your hands, though, seeing as you were so kind as to…satisfy me." He stood, and then turned away from her, walked away without a care in the world.

Marnie lay and sobbed. She cried for her mother, who she hadn't seen since that night that they had fought about Raven, she cried for her brothers and sisters, especially Nathy and Sheilah, for her beloved father, who loved her but no longer had any words to tell her so, and for Father Brannan, and Raven. Thinking of him made her hurt more, made her cold and sweaty, and her heart ached. They belonged together, he could not survive without her, nor she without him. Yet she was dying; she felt it, felt life draining from her body, and she cursed God and his unjust world.

Later, still lying in the snow, she felt a warmth trickle into her soul, but it was not the familiar, earthly warmth of life. She watched the stars as they appeared. It was a clear, beautiful night. 'I wish Raven were here to see it,' Marnie thought. 'I wish I could dance with him again.'

But she couldn't, and as she found her age-old faith inside her and prayed in the dark, blood still fell thickly down from her face, staining the pure snow.

Raven stopped running where the tracks turned off the road. Out of breath, he studied the tracks, and then followed them. It had been long since Pierce and his men had left, but no more snow had fallen and their footprints still faintly remained.

Raven saw a dark shape on the ground. Wailing uncontrollably, he ran to it, stumbling as he saw the snow stained red by her face. Then Marnie stirred a little, and tears of love and relief fell unnoticed down Raven's face. He knelt by her, taking her head gently in his hands and kissing her cold, blue lips. Marnie's eyes flickered open, and she smiled, seeing him.

_I knew you'd come_, she signed.

_I knew you'd know,_ he teased her gently, but his expression was grave and he knew she was fatally cold.

_Come,_ he said, and tugged her hands. She gasped with pain and Raven saw that her wrists were rubbed raw and shiny. Tears coursed down his face again, and he asked, _What did they do to you?_

_It doesn't matter,_ she said, _None of it matters now._ A rattling cough shook her whole body, and Raven watched helplessly as she struggled to breathe.

_You matter,_ he said. _Get up. I'll help you._

Marnie smiled ruefully. _I can't, Raven. I just can't._

He looked at her, pleading silently with her, but her gaze was firm and unrelenting.

_Remember dancing at the stones?_ she asked him. _Remember that night when we danced in the moonlight?_

He smiled through his tears. _Yes. We were moon-good beautiful. Marnie, get up and we can dance again. We can do anything._

She shook her head. _I'm dying, Raven._

_No._ His hand movement was final, deliberate. _No,_ he said more softly. _No, don't say that. Don't die. Don't leave me here alone. _The look in his eyes was heart-wrenching, and Marnie wept quietly.

_I'm sorry, Raven. I have to. I can't stay here._

_But I love you,_ he said desperately. _I love you._

_I know,_ she said, and they wept together by starlight, wept for their losses and for their love.

_Are you afraid?_ Raven asked. His hands were shaking.

_I'm soft-afraid,_ she told him. _I don't want to leave you here._

_I'll come with you,_ he promised her, taking her hands in his.

_You can't. _Tears shimmered on Marnie's face.

_Why?_

_It's not your time yet. You have to live, grow old…_

_Not without you,_ he said fiercely.

_I'm sorry, Raven, _she wept, grief-stricken, lost.

_Do you hurt?_ he asked her after a while.

_Not when you're with me,_ she answered.

_Then I will stay with you forever, _he said, _but you have to stay with me too._

_I wish I could, _she said, meaning it.

_I can't live when you're not here, _Raven signed softly. _You take good care of me._

_I will take care of you still. Watch the sun rise each day, Raven, and I will be there watching with you. Swear to me, _she whispered, _swear you'll never give up._

He sobbed, anguish on his usually serene face, and told her, _I swear._

Marnie felt weak, her soul forsaking her body, and said _I love you._ Her eyes closed, and she was gone. But Raven sat and held her body for the rest of the long night, and cried for the cruel loneliness that had found him once more.


	6. Silent as the Grave

Here's the last chapter of this fic. Again, thoughts are in ' ' and hand words in _italics. _Just a couple of words are in italics and thoughts-this just means that they're emphasized (sp?) Review and tell me what you thought! This chapter is supposed to be sad, and it is my first fanfiction, so reviews are really appreciated. And I hope you like the length of chapter 5. Here's the end.

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The first ray of sunlight touched the edge of the sky. Raven stirred softly, and glanced at the beautiful woman that lay in the snow beside him. She looked serene, at peace, like she always had when she was sleeping. But she was not sleeping. Her eyes would never sparkle again, her laugh would never light up her face, and her hands...they would never talk to him again, never show him a glimpse of the way others lived with their gossip and their tales of life.

And although it was Marnie lying there, it wasn't quite her. The sun showed the smooth rawness of her wrists, the deep clotted blood on her face, the blue-black bruises all over her body. It was a shell, a house for the spirit of the woman Raven loved.

_You are moon-good beautiful,_ Raven signed to it. _Come back._ But she wouldn't, not then, and not ever, and Raven knew it.

He turned to watch more rays hit the sky, as they had for thousands of years without fail. _Watch the sun rise each day, Raven, and I will be there watching with you._ Her words echoed in his mind, and he turned to watch the sky magically transform.

From navy blue to deep red to pink to golden to a light blue it flickered, until the sun finally hoisted itself into the sky. And yes, it was magical, yes, warming to the body and the soul. And yet…

Yet Raven _felt_ nothing. There was no sense of Marnie being there. She didn't whisper to him on the breeze, he didn't feel her gently touch or see her dancing, bewitching eyes. 'She said she'd be here,' thought Raven bitterly. 'She _told_ me. But she's not. I'm alone again.'

He went and crouched by Marnie's body. Picking up her right hand, he kissed it, looking at the brass wedding ring she always wore on her right hand, because it was the hand used for her words to Raven. Picking up her left hand now, he looked at the scars on the palm, still there from that terrible ordeal that seemed to have happened centuries ago. She'd survived so much, suffered so much, yet in the end it didn't matter. A cruel twist of fate had taken her, and would never give her back.

Suddenly Raven dropped her hand, backed away, and began to run. Just run, away from his hurt and his grief, away from that cold frozen place with its secrets and its memories, away from her with her unearthly beauty and radiance. When his legs gave way, he stumbled along the road, blinded by grief and guilt at leaving her.

Yet it didn't seem to matter how far he went or how hard he tried to forget. His memories of her pursued him. He remembered her shy blush, her laughter, the graceful movements of her body as she danced, the way she made him want to hold her and never let go. The more he ran, the more she surrounded him and the more he needed her to come back to him. His thoughts chased him until he was in an open space. Snow-covered trees were on the horizon far behind him, and in front of him lay a sheer drop off a cliff face into the unforgiving ocean.

He walked to the edge of the cliff, panting, and watched the sea. The sky had clouded over and it began to rain heavily.

He turned his face up to the sky, tasting the rain, feeling it cleanse him. Below him the sea crashed upon treacherous rocks, grey and menacing and cold.

'She loved the sea,' Raven thought, trembling. 'But then it was warm and beautiful. Now, everything has changed."

No sign of Marnie had been given to him as he stood there. He still did not feel her presence, and he found no peace. She had forsaken him.

He looked again at the sea and the rocks. 'Never give up,' he thought, but he had no strength left, nothing to fight the world's prejudice and judgement with. She had always been his source of strength, ever since that first day.

'I'm sorry. I love you too much.'

He shifted his weight forward until he was falling. His arms stayed by his sides, his eyes gently closed, his mind numb. He made no effort to stop himself.

His body lay broken on the rocks, with foamy waves tugging urgently at it. His soul was gone; he had become forever silent, as silent as the grave. Yet his spirit did not find hers, and even in death he found no peace.


End file.
